ESPN is switching distribution partners for its DVD business by bailing on a corporate sibling in favor of a company owned by the former Miramax chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

Genius Products, a small home video distributor that vaulted to Hollywood prominence last year after forming a venture with The Weinstein Company, plans to announce today that it has reached a pact to distribute all DVDs for ESPN.

In going with Genius, ESPN, a unit of Disney, is bailing on Buena Vista, another Disney division. Buena Vista has distributed ESPN’s home video products since the 1990s.

The irony lies in the fact that the Weinsteins were once in the Disney fold, but finalized a split last year after years of acrimony with Disney management.

Under the ESPN pact, Genius will distribute a minimum of 15 titles per year through 2011. Among ESPN’s hit DVD titles are “The Dale Earnhardt Story,” “Playmakers,” “Tilt,” and “Through The Fire.”

“We’re small and aggressive,” said Genius CEO Trevor Drinkwater, a former Warner Bros. exec. “You get the attention of a small studio, but with the access you’d get at a major studio.”

Last year Genius agreed to form a new venture with The Weinstein Company, in which the Weinsteins own 70 percent. Genius, which is traded on the over-the-counter market, is likely to move to the Nasdaq.

Later this year, the Weinsteins can convert their 70 percent stake into public shares.

In addition to distributing films for the Weinsteins and ESPN, Genius’ other brands are NBC News, the Sundance Channel and Wellspring.